building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. this is abc7 news. i'm kristen sze. welcome to our daily program called getting answers. we get answers for you in real time. today community leaders, alumni and parents gather in a called stop scapegoating asian kids. let's begin with gun violence in america. a scare this morning at the yountville veterans home in nap pap county, the scene of a deadly shooting in 2018. this follows the mass shooting at a boulder, colorado, grocery storm. ten people were killed, including a police officer.

last week a gunman killed eighth people at three asian-owned spas, having bought his gun that very same day. joining us to talk or about abo is congresswoman jackie spear. representative, speaker thank you for joining us today. >> good to kristen. >> columbine school, parkland, the list goes on and on even before this most recent round of shootings. what can't federal government, i'm talking about congress which you're a part of, the white house or the courts do to prevent this from happening again. >> there are a number of bills that have already passed the house that start to deal with the loophole. the first is the hr8 which says we have a law on the books that says you can't buy a gun if

you're a felon or domestic violence offense. that law was passed many years ago. since then more and more sales take place at gun shows, online, person to person. all that does is close that loophole. yet, we can't seem to get traction. the other is called the charleston loophole. that's where the young man was able to buy a gun even though he wouldn't be able to buy a gun. there was a law put in there by the nra that says you have to turn over the gun in three days if you can't determine that the person had the gun. this provides ten days to gift fbi the ability to determine whether or not the individual is a felon or mentally ill or has a misdemeanor offense of

domestic violence. so those are the measures moving through congress. i think the assault weapons ban has been introduced. there's the red flag bill which may appear in this case. it appears the family members knew this young man was unstable. the red flag laws prevent the purchase of a gun by a family member if the family goes through the process, through the courts of trying to withhold the purchase of guns for a family member who they think is unstable. >> those measures that could close the loopholes and make it less likely for a person not to have a gun, do they exist in california. we have month strictest gun laws and do the numbers support what we're doing is keeping the numbers down? >> i was one of the authors of the assault weapons ban in

california. i stood on the floor make the case and someone said miss spear have you ever shot an assault weapon. i turned around and said no, but let mow ask you a question. have you ever been shot by an assault weapon. governor pete wilson signed it into law. so we have really strong laws in california but our borders are porous, so guns can find their way into the state and we've had a mass san bernardino in gilroy. go to church, go to the movies, go to the grocery store. we will all have a certain sense of fear because of what we have seen happening around h us. >> you were shot in 1978.

it was in guyian na. you were working for congressman ryan. you were on the airstrip helping people escape. how did that shape your views on the debate around gun violence and gun control. >> for starters you don't need an assault weapon to kill bam by. i've been shot by an assault weapon, semiautomatic. it tears through the body. it's not surprising that all those people died and very few were wounded yesterday because it's such a vicious weapon. having survived gun violence, of course it shaped my position on the issues, but all we want are sane safety measures. everyone has the right to own a gun. they want to use it for hunting purposes or to protect themselves but we don't want

people that shouldn't have guns. and we do note incidents of gun violence in the united states is so much greater than anywhere else in the world because we have more guns than people in the united states and the number of mass shootings has gone on. we saw the highest number last year than we had in 20 years. 19,000 people die from guns every year. now two thirds of them are suicides but nonetheless, for all those who die as a result of violence not perpetrated on themselves is a life loss that should not have happened and for those who commit suicide, there are opportunities for them to seek help and having a gun in the house makes this that much more likely that gun violence can occur. >> i was surprised to see that the polls showed the majority of americans, 67% do sport

banning of weapons and when we did have the federal assault weapons ban briefly from '94 to 2004 the numbers did go down, right? so when you're looking at at data and the polls, where is the political will lacking to get that through? >> the senate. now the assault weapon ban was put in place because then senator dianne feinstein, reeling from her own experience with gun violence when george mossconey and harvey milk were both shot at city hall and and 101 california mass shooting. she got that ban in place but it had a sunset. so this was whom in place for ten years. the power of the national rifle association has got to be

crushed. $20million in pacs have control over. we have got to speak up and shut down the nra because they do represent a minority. no one wants to take someone's gun away from them if they have them legally. it's the illegal purchase of guns. it's those that have guns that shouldn't have gones and that's what we're trying to rectify. >> the nra tweeted a well regulated ilyious, the right of the people toll bear arms shall not be -- when they point to that, what is your response? >> we're not trying to do. that the heller decision said the second amendment protects your right to own a gun. we want to protect your right to own a gun if you legally should have a gun.

now it doesn't moon that anyone could have a gun, those that meet certain standards. they're not felons, haven't committed domestic violence, aren't mentally ill. as far as assault weapons go, you don't need an assault weapon to go hunting. >> well, a colorado judge actually just recently belonged bans on some types of assault weapons, including ar-15, the type that the gunman in boulder, colorado used. it's also judicial. >> well, except in that case the nra brought the action and the court held this was a state role, not a city role. so that was, once again, a push by the nra to try and restrict any local jurisdiction from putting restraints on the

ownership of -- in this case assault weapons >> the border is porous. you're only as weak as the weakest link in terms of the gun law. do you think it should be a federal responsibility and not for states on waiting periods, who should get it. do you think that should all be federal and is there a way to make that happen or not? >> we often times create a federal floor and states can enhance them if they're so inclined. when you look at background checks. when you're selling guns in the mail across state lines, i think we need to have a comprehensive federal law that says you're subject to a background check, that you haven't committed domestic violence and you're not

mentally ill by a court. that's what it's all about. >> seems like we have this conversation every time there's a mass shooting. we hope this time is the time. this time for real there will be action and change. again, our fingers crossed here. thank you for talking about that. i do want to shift gears in the one minute we have left. you spent your career shaping the lives of young women. your favorite annual event "when i grow up" is being held on saturday. can you tell us what the girls will see and do. >> this is for girls ages 9 and 15. we normally have it in person but we will do it by zoom. we will have an astronaut who will be off to the moon, to walk on the moon. we'll have the coo of zoom hand we'll have one of the

scientists from cdc. you can sign up and it's very inspiring to me and i think to the girls as well. this is their opportunity to start dreaming of what their future is all about and recognizing that they can do it. >> yep. we saw that with former san francisco fire chief joe an white a couple years ago. great leaders, great lineup and we do this everyear. we'll put it on our website. thank you. >> thank you. >> when we

today community leaders, lowell alumni and parents gather at lowell high school in san francisco to denounce what they call the scapegoating of asian kids. this after most of the the the san francisco unified, and there was a big rally today but joining us are three san francisco public school alumni, julie sue, lowell alum na. eugene mcgrain, lowell alum na and real estate developer and so great for all three have you to take time to share with us today. julie,ly start with you. how has the the the scapegoating asian students. >> it wasn't just the tweets

but at every school board they have shut down parents and a group that is supposed to list on it their constituencies they have shut down certain parents. as you know, the asian school district is over a that becomes really problematic. now we've seen the effects of this. >> i know those of a rally today felt that the tweets were the latest. i aassume hearings were over admission policies. >> it would be the renaming of schools. it would be taking away the washington high school murals and that requires public input. that is the role of a body not just to rule in a vacuum.

so parents really feel shutout, especially when their children have to study at a distance now and they don't even know what's going on and they don't even know if there will be a school open. the school board isn't focusing on education for all students >> i know that's something all three are concerned with, is whether the school board is serving the needs of all students to achieve at their potential. theo, i know you've been concerned with the elimination of algebra. for those who don't know, tell us why you feel that was a bad move. >> thanks for having me. we are at this dichotomy. there's a conversation between raising standards and this idea of equity. i am of the thought that you can do both. you can raise standards and be

equitable. we're in san francisco, the city that knows how. as a san francisco native, someone who graduated from public schools, a parent and looking at schools for my son, we have to be able to do both. we cannot lower standards. we havable to equitable and the school board is a forum to have those active conversations about raising standards and being equitable. >> i'm going to try to summarize what this is all about, which is with regards to lowell in particular, it's a magnet school, high standards, produces great graduates that go on to great places. really, it's majority asian. the way you get into the school, you have to meet certain standards in regards to grades. i think the board was saying there isn't enough diversity

lowell, certainly not enough black or latino students. they decided to change it by lottery. theo, what do you think making a lottery, what does that do to the student standards or population of the school and what do you think about it? >> sure, i think what needs to happen is a substantive conversation about what razing all standards look like. i'm in baby hunters point. sadly we do not have a quality high school. the question for me is how do we get a lowell in every district of san francisco. i'm a graduate of a school of the arts high school, which is also a school you had to sort of test into and there's value there. i think there's value in allowing students to look forward to something. there's value in allowing students to know more and value in preparing a student to be

competitive in this global market, colleges and universities that are beyond san francisco. think organizations and schools like lowell provide that opportunity for student unless san francisco. >> okay. a lot more

we are back with julie soo, lowell aluma and eugene mcgreen, commercial real estate developer and theo ellington, of the black citizens foundation and formerly with the warriors. there have been claims because of the majority asian environment at lowell and some of the things that have happened recently, that there's a racist element there and changing admissions is the way to change that o wants to dissect that. >> the asian population is

largest at one third. sadly, theo knows they have lost so many asian-american families. even if every student went to lowell this would still be overwhelmingly asian. what i'm proposing is that the school board focus on the lower grades and to make sure that every kid has a quality education from the get-go and if that child -- their parent so choose to go to eligible, they're eligible to go to lowell. >> i would like something to that. it was a great school for experiencing the world in a different way, especially for the white students. look, we were a minority there. we were able to see what it's like to be a minority and have some will empathy for that.

there wasn't -- when three did this call to change the admission standards, there wasn't a single lowell alumni that didn't get on to say if there's a way to make this equitable, everybody is open to the conversation. everyone wants this to be be more equitable conversation. this doesn't have to be an exclusive conversation. i mean, you go back to how they handled the school naming situation. of course, schools should have names updated. of course there are school names that don't make sense anymore. this isn't a situation where we go through and say this person is terrible. there are plenty who want to make it a better situation. this has become exclusive to making things in the negative. >> can i ask you though, why don't we make all middle and

elementary schools great and have them all thrive and take eighth grade algebra if they want so they will be ready for a school as rigorous as lowell when they're ready for this. that is hard. that sounds hard to do. >> that's the school board's job, first of all. they decided to get rid of the lottery because it didn't work. it put families at a disadvantage at schools close to them so they can be involved in the schools. this is the hard work. >> but the work needs to be done. what they overlooked is the current system sets aside 30% of the seats for disadvantaged students as well as students from underrepresented schools. look, kristen, it wasn't fair for chinese students. when i went to school chinese

girls exclusively had to have higher gpas the school has to do better than marginalizing different communities >> historically black colleges have strong criteria and standards and prerequisites, that you want the san francisco school board to ensure their students can meet, right? >> absolutely. generally speaking, we can raise the standards and be eke quitable at the same time. one of the issues i have is parents are feeling worried, teachers are feeling unsafe. the majority of that burden as we ben to talk about reopening schools which the conversation should be, the school board should have conversations about reopening schools, bottom line. everything else is a distraction whether it's the

murals, anything other than reopening schools seems like a distraction to me. all that to say that, yes, when we talk about a rigorous education, when we talk about raising the standards, i would love to see a direct pipeline into historically black colleges. >> we'll continue this

thank you for joining us on today's interactive show getting answers. today we talked to congresswoman jack economy spear, gun violence and what to do about it. she said several bills have passed the house. we also talked about merit

admissions to lowell tonight, inside the deadly mass shooting in boulder, colorado. the horror inside that grocery store. the second mass shooting in america in less than a week. and tonight, we learned what those shoppers endured. the ten victims ranging in age from 20 to 65. and officer eric talley who ran into that store, in the line of fau fire. the first officer on the scene. some were there to buy goesries. others to get their covid vaccine. tonight, the moment when the police chief today was clearly emotional, revealing she lives just three blocks away from that store. what she said about officer talley and his seven children. all of them in her office just two weeks ago for an award. tonight, police now identifying the alleged gunman who was shot, but the only one who survived. born in syria, h